chipped nails & all

here’s what’s up.

January 31, 2010 · Leave a Comment

so, I kind of disappeared, but we’re going to move on from that like britney moved on from justin after their break-up (was anyone else heartbroken when they broke up?!)

I never said we’d move on to better things though…

but I’m gonna try to make this worth your while.

let’s see what’s on my camera that I haven’t told ya’ll about yet….

looks like I did a little DIY project (and took a horrible pic to document said project. whoops.)

now worries.  I’ll post more details in a lil’ bit (aka like a month…cause that’s apparently how I roll).

what else do we have?  hmmm…looks like I rocked some jeans + boots action to work on a “casual” day.

I was trying to channel this chica and do it up, stunna- style, but meh, not a big fan of that look on me.  must find some other way to justify getting cowgirl boots. sundress + boots possibly? too cliche? so last season? THOUGHTS????

I think I also had a really gross, soggy sandwich for lunch one day. does anyone know how to make sandwiches that aren’t soggy?! I need help with that.  is there such thing as a bad sandwich maker? cause I think I might fall in to that category…..whon whon.

it was as bad as it looks.  I blame the tomatoes.  I don’t like them au natural, but prefer them sun dried or in ketchup (yum, KETCHUP!) side note: I was out to lunch the other day at this sketch diner and apparently they have the best ketchup EVER.  wtf?  is it odd that I could have covered everything I ordered with ketchup?  well, except the coffee.  that’s just gross. or maybe the greatest drink concoction yet to be discovered!  dare you to try it :)

and on to running.  hmmmm….what do I have to say about that?  well, to be honest, I can’t remember where I left off, BUT, I do know that I’ve kind of been ignoring my pesky friend, the 10 Miler training program.  work is all kinds of crazy til this Thursday, so I’ll be lucky if I get in another run before then.  training plan is still on though.  modifications will be made to make up for this past week.

I’m pretty sure I did 4 miles the other weekend, which hurt like all get-out (I think that’s a southern phrase, so my apologies if it doesn’t relate well…).  that shin/calf pain I talked about earlier?  yea, had this girl cryin out for her momma around mile 2.  sucked it up though (aka hobbled along) and just ran the last 2 miles without thinking about what I was doing.  the key to struggling through is not stopping…which sucked cause there were major hills at this point!  who knew c-ville was nestled in the alps?! I should have charted those elevation changes for you…

anyways, next topic.

selfish sunday.

a while ago, I think I posted about selfish sundays, which is where I discussed things I was going to work on in the upcoming week to “better myself”.  I had lofty goals back then, but nowadays, my goals are more along the lines of: don’t fall asleep at my desk….I KID, I KID!  actually, my goal this week is to get 8 hours of sleep each night.  homegirl needs her beauty rest cause this week’s gonna be crazy busy!  so busy that I’m heading in to work today (SUNDAY) to get some things done in advance.  I know…..sounds crazy right?  at least I have next Friday off :)

I’m a big fan of Sundays actually, cause I have so much free time cause I’m so lazy.  Something that I want to start doing is featuring one blogger each week on my little piece of internet real estate.  all the blogger’s I feature/highlight/rave about probably have no idea I’m about to shine a spotlight on their fabulous selves, but I want to do this to acknowledge the awesome ladies (and gents) that have such a wonderful impact on my life :) spreadin the love people, spreadin the love.  I think I’ll call the feature….

mad love.

first up on the list is……

KAILEY aka SnackFace!  woot!

homegirl is super fabulous and gorgeous!   let’s do a little recap of why she’s super fab:

  • she’s rockin out her insanely busy schedule while staying healthy and active (something I didn’t do in college…)
  • she has a page devoted to sweet potato cheetah’s!  those cheetah’s are friggin awesome, especially with some delicious KETCHUP!
  • her writing style is off the chain (yea…I don’t actually say that in real life…I just couldn’t pull it out, but Kailey could!)
  • she has an elephant necklace!  me likely elephants :) I too have some elephant bling.  I’ll show ya later!
  • when I read her blog, I feel like I’m chatting it up with an old friend and not just getting a recap of her life.  love hearing her thoughts…..she’s just fab!

so, go check her out and leave some love :)  I’m about to go get my SnackFace on now…..

peace and love bloggies :)

Crystal

→ Leave a CommentCategories: fashion · food · friends · mad love · selfish sunday
Tagged: , , ,

stupid tibialis anterior

January 15, 2010 · 1 Comment

I waited a day to post this.

I was really angry and upset last night and I figured that wouldn’t be the best time to vent on the blog.

see, the reason I’m upset is because of running.  as expected, it’s going to be hard. as expected, I never actually want to start the run, but once I’m finished, I’m SO glad that I put in the effort to better my mental and physical well-being.

I ran for sports in high school.  I wish I could tell you how many times I ran around that rectangular shape that made up a field for soccer and field hockey……actually, I don’t want to know, it’s probably a ridiculous number of times!

in all that running, I’d never experienced any pain (besides in my lungs) when I ran at an easy pace.  I understand that I’m not currently at the same fitness level, but I’ve been training for a little while now and don’t expect to have pain when I run at an easy pace.

but I felt pain last night. grrrrrr.

the pain is near my shin, but on the side a little bit.  it’s not directly over the shine bone, but in the anterior, lateral (go anatomy!) muscle (near the insertion of the tibialis anterior).  it’s definitely painful, sore to the touch and feels swollen. not good.

I got about 15 minutes in to my run last, stopped for about 2 minutes for water and when I started back up, shooting pain went searing through my leg and foot.  not cool tibialis anterior, not cool!

so, I’ve taken it easy today (even though I did wear heels to work…it’s what I do.) and I plan on taking it easy tomorrow too.  I’ve got another run tomorrow, but I’m hoping to use that time to work on my stride so I’m not landing so hard on my heel.  let’s hope that works, cause I haven’t got much patience for injuries while I’m training for a 10 miler.

and my eating, well, it hasn’t been that great actually.

too many fried foods (don’t worry, it was tofu and hush puppies).

too much candy during the day…..(bad thinking for putting it on my desk at work. bad idea, I know.)

not enough greens!

that’s changing this weekend though!  sidenote: not the best weekend to try and eat super healthy since we’ll be out of town all weekend, but I’m up for the challenge!

I was thinking of doing a food diary kind of thing for everything that I eat this weekend and posting it here so I’ll be held accountable.  plus, I know you all are on pins and needles to hear what I eat. patience my young one, patience.

alrighty, sorry if this didn’t make sense, but I just had to write about what I was feeling/thinking.  thanks for reading :)

I’m off to pack and then drive up to northern VA! well, Jeremy’s gonna drive….he’s got heated seats. I don’t.

FAIL.

peace and love,

Crystal

currently listening to: one eskimo “chosen one”


→ 1 CommentCategories: running · training
Tagged: , ,

planning ze workouts.

January 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment

it’s eerily quite today in the office, so I thought I’d stay in and write up a post for you all during my lunch break. (plus, it’s really cold outside and i’m still sore from Sunday, which means no “walking” lunch today…thank you DOMS.)

so, last time we chatted, I promised that I’d post my workouts for the week.  and I’ve been thinking how I’d like to do things, but I still have no clue what I want to do and when I want to do it (twss).  here’s my rough draft of my rough draft….expect it to change later on though.

Tuesday: training run (for 10 miler) + yoga or arm weights…I’m feeling arm weights today (aka I’ve eaten one too many hershey’s kisses and need to sweat it out!)

Wednesday: training run + some other form of cardio (probs HIIT (high intensity interval training) on elliptical)

Thursday: kickboxing or yoga at home

Friday (AM): training run

I need to make a purty little spreadsheet detailing my 10 miler training!  sheesh kabobs!  nothing to worry about right now….none of my runs are that monumental.  I believe once I hit 3.5 miles, I’ll start to set PDR’s (personal distance records).

oh, and even though I played soccer for a bajillion years all the way thru high school, I’m not counting those practices/games as setting any PDR’s.  it was all stop and go and rest and jog and sprint….you get the picture.  I probably ran 5 or 6 miles (at least) each game, which was 90 min., if not longer, but it’s not the same as running 5 or 6 miles straight.  at least in soccer you have something to chase after….(hmm….maybe I should tie a piece of chocolate to a stick hanging in front of me when I run…….I see a possible experiement in the works!)

fun fact about me:  I often try to guess what kind of a sport a person plays based entirely off of how their body looks (I’m so intellectual, I know.).  for example:

  • ripped arms = basketball
  • huge quads = soccer
  • tight butt = baseball/softball, or even football
  • curvy calves = running

what do you think?  what did I miss?

so yea, I’ve got pretty big quads comparatively.  they’re big, yet they can’t hold me up that long in the Warrior poses during yoga…what’s up with that?!

anyways, I’m planning for running + arms today and counting down the minutes til the work day ends.  I’ve got to take the final pictures for a little DIY project Jeremy and I have been working on so that I can show you all!  all I’ll say for now is, it sure is purty! any guesses as to what it might be? :)

peace and love,

Crystal

→ Leave a CommentCategories: training · work out
Tagged: ,

hurts so good.

January 11, 2010 · 1 Comment

so, thanks to my killer workout yesterday, sitting down has now become the hardest task of the day…..thus, I will be rearranging my workouts this week to accomodate for my current inability to move my legs or do anything more than hobble down the hall.

I’m seriously rethinking my water consumption today as well.  lots of water = lots of bathroom trips, and while I know it’s good to get moving when I’m this sore, it just hurts like whoa.  actually, let’s be honest, it hurts so GOOD!

feel the burn baby, feel the burn!

I’ll post later tonight with my workouts for the week.  this week’s a doozy since I’ll be out of town friday through sunday….not sure if I’ll be able to get a workout in over the weekend, but we’ll see how things go.

I bid you adieu and am off to turn up the heating pad I’m sitting on.

peace and love!

Crystal

:)

→ 1 CommentCategories: Uncategorized
Tagged: ,

killer workout and yummy food.

January 10, 2010 · 4 Comments

hello lovlies!

well, it has been quite the week, if I do say so myself.  the first full work week back from a two-week vacation = not fun (aka very little sleep for this chica).  homegirl needs her sleep.  whoever said “you can sleep when you’re dead” clearly has not seen me after only 6 hours of sleep! yea, not pretty.

sidenote: when I go on road trips with friends, or really anybody, they all know not to talk to me til after 10am.  let’s just say I’m not fully functioning and can get slightly crabby if I don’t have a long enough time to wake up!

so, as if my butt hadn’t been kicked enough by this past work week, I decided that I needed to get my butt kicked at the gym today too!  let me preface this by saying that a kick butt workout for me must include me drenched in sweat and barely able to walk out of the gym.  okay, back to today’s kick butt workout.  she probably doesn’t know it, but homegirl janetha kicked my butt for real! (are you tired of me saying ‘kicked my butt’ yet? i am!) in all seriousness, I didn’t think I was gonna be able to lift my legs high enough to climb the stairs at home…..clearly, my concern is that the kitchen is upstairs and I NEED my kitchen!  no, I wasn’t worried about the bathroom or a bed to sleep on, but if I couldn’t climb the stairs to get to the kitchen, what was I going to do??????

luckily my legs stopped quivering once I got home, so I knew my beloved food and I (me?) were going to be together soon :)

back to the workout.  I did janetha’s go-to lower body workout.  it. was. AWESOME!…..and painful.  but, I loved every second and every drop of sweat during this workout.  homegirl knows what she’s doing.  I kind of wish I could work out with her…I bet she’s a beast and rocks out every move!  I would look like gumby trying to lift weights next to her, lol!  and the crunches! oh, the crunches.  not gonna lie, these moves were hard and just the challenge I needed today! (I’m talking about you, single leg deadlift!)

okay, now that I’ve raved enough about janetha and her workouts, on to some other workouts!

well, just one…..I went running yesterday.  did about 2.6 miles, with about 2 walk breaks thrown in..about 30 seconds each walk break.  here’s a pic of me before the run:

yes, I am in a parking lot. yes, I am wearing my stunna shades. no, I’m not kidding.

and then, here’s me after the run:

wait, did I just run 2.6 miles?  sure doesn’t look like it.  maybe cause it was like 26* outside!  oh, and yes, I have my eyes closed.  the sun was bright and my eyes are sensitive. no, I’m not kidding on that one either.

I actually quite like running outside in cold-ish temps…..except when it snows 2 weeks earlier and the sidewalks still aren’t paved and I have to stop and walk a good chunk of the route.  not cool.  I eventually gave up and ran in the road (gasp!).  Charlottesville’s a pretty runner friendly community, so drivers are used to seeing runners on the roads and luckily I didn’t get hit or have a tumble in the snow! SUCCESS :)  I wasn’t so thrilled with my time, but right now, I’m focusing on endurance, not speed.  speed training will happen when I’m training for the Rock and Roll half-marathon in Virginia Beach come Sept. 5, 2010.  yep, that’s the same one I ran last year…except this time around, I’m gonna actually train for it……and kick some major boo-tay!

yay running :)  I love me some endorphins!

okay, on to food. yummy, delicious food.

I opted for a sandwich after my lower body workout today.  My inspiration came from brittany’s veggie stuffed hummus sandwich, which she displayed during the Foodbuzz Festival. yummy, yum yum!

here’s my version:

talk about yum in my tum!

add in 1/2 an orange and 1/2 a kiwi and you’ve got a delicious, healthy meal :)

yea, I know my orange slices look like they were just upchucked.  I’m a bad orange peeler, don’t judge!

alright, folks, I’m off to plan what’s for dinner and do a d.i.y. project!  I’m super excited for it :)  details and pictures to come soon!

peace and love,

Crystal

→ 4 CommentsCategories: food · running
Tagged: , , , ,